In
its draft regulation issued in October, Trai had proposed a new
tariff framework for the pricing and packaging of TV channels offered to
subscribers.

Draft
ki mukhya baatein !

Every
broadcaster should declare the nature of each channel as ‘free to air' or
‘pay' for different geographical areas;

Broadcaster
can offer pay channels in the form of bouquet(s) and on a-la-carte
basis.

Price
declaration should be as mentioned.

According
to the draft order, a total of 100 standard definition channels (one
high definition channel is equal to two standard definition channels) will
be offered to subscribers at Rs130 (excluding taxes) per month, including
channels notified by the central government to be mandatorily provided to
subscribers.

Beyond
that, the channels will be made available in slabs of 25 each and an
amount of Rs20 (excluding taxes) will be charged per slab. Trai
had also asked the broadcasters to fix the maximum retail price (excluding
taxes) for à la carte pay channels , according to the order.

According
to the order, Trai had asked the broadcasters to fix the maximum retail
price (excluding taxes) for à la carte pay channels. The order had further
listed seven genres for television channels, down from current 11 and had
also fixed a maximum price for each genre.

So
far, channel distributors had an upper hand in deciding the prices.
These firms —called distribution platform operators—obtain TV channels at
a negotiated price from broadcasters and deliver them to subscribers over
their cable TV, direct-to-home (DTH) operators and head-end in the sky
(HITS) networks.

Broadcasters
and Broadasters Association ka kya kehna hai ?

Broadcasters
and broadcasting associations have expressed concern over Trai’s tariff
order and have even asked the department of industrial policy and
promotion (DIPP) to undertake a review of Trai’s authority to regulate the
sector.

"Broadcasting
firms are covered by copyright laws worldwide. We have asked DIPP to
undertake a review through stakeholder consultation to align broadcasting
laws with the copyright laws,” said an executive of a leading
broadcaster on the condition of anonymity.

In
its response, Zee said that the cost of the content is determined by
market forces and the intellectual property/copyright owners under the
Copyright Act are free to recover the perceived value of the content. “But
under the Trai regulation/tariff order, the broadcaster/content owner
distributing the said content through its channels is not allowed to
charge the realistic market value and will be bound by the restriction of
the genre cap/ceiling imposed on a particular channel prescribed by Trai,”
it added.

Sony
Pictures Network, which runs several entertainment and sports channels,
agreed that the draft order if implemented will suffer from a lack of
jurisdiction. Given that television broadcasters as the owners of the
content are governed by the Copyright Act, “Trai ought not to do
anything that would amount to a dilution of the unfettered rights granted
to us thereunder,” said Sony in its comments.

Phir
...hona kya tha !

Earlier
in December, Star India Pvt. Ltd and its subsidiary, Vijay Television Pvt.
Ltd had also filed a petition in Madras HC against Trai, information and
broadcasting (I&B) ministry, Department of Industrial Policy &
Promotion (DIPP) and the Department of Telecom on similar grounds, after
which HC asked Trai not to pass any guidelines on tariff issues in
the broadcast sector.

Phir TRAI ne kya kiya...TRAI ka stand ?

Following
the Madras HC order, the regulator has moved Supreme Court through a
special leave petition.

“Trai
is trying to bring transparency in the industry by regulating the
broadcast distribution system. We have the mandate to regulate tariff,
interconnection and quality of service issues in the sector,” a Trai
official said